Tales From the Box

It’s only a small start, but I have begun decorating the Box for Christmas.

We always love Christmas here at the Box, but this year is going to be particularly awesome, with the little man celebrating his first.

There will be a real tree still to put up, and various other decorations, and I love every bit of it. I’m so excited I could burst!

I have blogged about our bedroom before, and how important it is to me to keep it tidy and organised. Well I thought I would add some info here about how I achieve that.

Our Pax wardrobe from Ikea is great for keeping clothes sorted and organised. It is made up of 3 sections, 2 for me and 1 for the man of the house (I easily have twice as many clothes).

As you can see above, in my side of the wardrobe, I have things double hung, which gives me twice the space. In this section of the wardrobe I only keep tops, cardi’s and skirts. I keep long pants, dresses and coats in the second section, which isn’t double hung. Hubby’s section is also double hung.

Then in both of our double-hung sections, we have this awesome little pull out drawer (they are from Ikea also, but I don’t think they make the same one anymore. I think they sell a similar one, but I haven’t found the link yet. If anyone would like to enlighten me, feel free). I use mine to store scarves and jewellery, and his is full of belts and ties.

There are also shelves above the hanging spaces in each section, which we use to store spare blankets, doona’s and pillows, my wedding gown, and a few other random bits and pieces.

Of course, I always have way too many clothes, and I am constantly getting rid of some to allow for the new. But this also means that I am constantly re-organising and tidying the wardrobe. So my shopping habits are really a good thing, right?

A little while ago I promised that there were some more projects I was yet to complete in Widget’s room. Well, I have successfully completed said projects (almost – more on that later) and here are some pics.

This one is the Bekvam shelf I had already bought from Ikea.

I have used it to display some of the cute little toys that the Widg received from some of his “uncles” (John and Buzz), a lovely little handmade jacket and booties and some special stones from a dear friend of mine (thanks Rhi) and of course his first Swannies attire (thanks Grandpa). I have a few more items that I would like to put here too, but I will rotate them so that the Widg has some variety to look at. The hooks are just basic ones from Bunnings.

And the reason I said this project was “almost” finished, is that there is still some debate among the grownups at the Box about whether to paint the shelf white or leave it as is. Stay tuned (but don’t hold your breath).

This idea (below) I had seen in many variations on heaps of blogs and in magazines, and thought it was a great idea, so I had to rip it off.

I plan to hang different things from it over time. At the moment it has a selection of cards that we were sent or given on the birth of our dear Widg, welcoming him to the world. But I also plan to display things like Christmas and birthday cards, photos and his artwork.

I am using old-style wooden pegs to hang the cards. They were given to us as part of a gift at the Not-a-baby-shower-shower (it’s a long story), and since I don’t have a clothes line (another long story) I decided that this would be the perfect use for them (thanks Tony, Amanda and Ivy).

So as you can see, the decoration/completion of the Widget’s room is a moving target, as is the rest of the Box really. Keeps me out of trouble. Most of the time.

So I have a problem with throw rugs. I like them. A lot. Some might say too much. I have something in the vicinity of 25 different throw rugs (essentially blankets that you “throw” over a chair/couch/bed/lap).

I actually do use most of them on a regular basis. Either to decorate our bed or one of our couches. This then makes it easy to grab one on a cold night and snuggle yourself up. I regularly change them around for different looks when I get bored with the way the house looks (another good way to redecorate without actually buying new stuff), and I store the not-in-use ones in the huge Ikea Nasum basket in our living room.

(from Ikea)

Really, I haven’t spent a lot on these rugs. Most of them are from Ikea or Target or places like that.

(from Ikea)

But there are few things more comforting than curling up on the couch on a cold night with a cuppa and a cosy throw.

I found this amazing little boys bedroom over on Ohdeedoh.

(from The Bumper Crop)

No, we have no plans to have 3 sons. But if we did, this would be the coolest shared bedroom ever!

(from The Bumper Crop)

It even gives me ideas about how the Widg’s room could evolve as he gets older. I love the colours (I have a thing for grey) – the yellow and black on the beds, the white bedding against the raw pale wood. There’s just the hint of a nautical theme (with the thick rope and the blue step stool) without being really obvious and naff.

(from The Bumper Crop)

And of course the whole suspended bed thing is just too cool. Can you imagine being a kid and playing in a room like this? Great for pirates! I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it!

Any fan of Ikea knows who Billy is. It’s their standard, inexpensive bookcase.

(from Ikea)

And we have many Billy’s at the Box. They are a great size for storage as they are quite shallow and don’t take up a lot of valuable floor space. They also have handy height extenders so that you can make the bookshelves go all the way up to the ceiling (depending on your ceiling height of course).

We have 2 Billy’s in the lounge room. They house books, odds and ends, vases and magazines.

We have a wall of Billy’s in the office/study/spare bedroom. They house books, stationery, art supplies, work equipment and random odds and ends. For example, all of those white Kassett boxes are full of things like extension cords and power boards, small tools and craft supplies.

The contents of our Billy’s are regularly rearranged depending on what we need to store, what we are using on a regular basis, and how bored I am. Rearranging bookshelves is actually a great way to scratch your “need to redecorate” itch without actually buying new stuff. Plus it means you go through your belongings every now and then and assess whether you need to get rid of or replace anything.

On our recent trip to Armidale to visit some friends and sample the local cafe culture, I was inspired to start sewing (thanks Jen!). Now, let me explain that my entire sewing history to date involves taking up pant leg hems (by hand), sewing loose buttons back on (by hand) and making a bag and a shirt (poorly) back in early high school.

So why the sudden desire to sew? Well, now that I am a stay-at-home-mama, I find myself with small nuggets of time on my hands where I can’t leave the house. I also have lots of time to spend on the laptop browsing blogs looking at pretty things that I can’t really afford to buy. Many of these things I often think “surely you could make that yourself?” Well, yes, surely someone could. But not necessarily me.

However, I figure if I can sew a straight line, maybe I can successfully whip up something relatively simple. So I borrowed my mums old sewing machine, and I have set myself up with a little sewing area. Believe me, if I had to pack it all away every time, this new little hobby would last about 5 minutes.

Noah and I then trotted down to Spotlight, where we picked up a few essentials (thread, scissors, fabric). Then I spent about an hour reading through the instruction manual of the sewing machine, reacquainting myself with the mechanics of threading bobbins and such. Then I browsed a few of my favourite blogs (along with some suggestions from Jen) for some easy projects to begin with.

Firstly, I was drawn to this one:

(from Lovely Design)

Mainly because I totally agree with the blogger about not needing a whole nappy/baby bag. I have managed pretty well so far with the Widg without needing to carry around some huge luggage full of baby stuff. I have been able to get by quite happily with just my normal handbag (it’s like a satchel and quite large anyway, but it’s still just a handbag). So I made this one for myself:

So far, it has worked a treat. I keep it stocked with a small pack of wipes, a couple of nappies (depending how long we will be out for) and this adorable change mat that I bought here (and completely ripped off from the above-mentioned blog).

I have since made several bags using the same pattern, and used them as gift bags for a few friends. Then I attempted to make some toys for the Widg. I found a seemingly simple pattern for some soft blocks on Make It and Love It. Mine turned out ok. Not as squared as intended, rather quite rounder.

But Noah doesn’t seem to mind.

Oh, and in case I’m in need of some additional motivation to sew, this is my view from my sewing table:

So when we were designing the renovations to the Box, we needed somewhere clever to put a laundry. There wasn’t a lot of free space (as with everything about the house) so we had to be smart about where we put things, and how much space we could allocate to the different areas and uses of the house.

We ended up deciding on using underneath the staircase for the laundry. It’s only a small space, as you can imagine (about the size of a cupboard. Actually, it is a cupboard). But it serves its purpose. There is a washing machine, a dryer and a sink, plus a bit of room for storing cloths, detergents and the like.

As I said, it serves its purpose. However, if we had more space, I would love to have an actual room dedicated to the laundry.

(from Apartment Therapy)

I would love some space to hang things while they dry, somewhere to store clean linens and towels (we don’t have a dedicated linen closet either), somewhere to leave the ironing board set up, and even a bench top to use for folding large items like towels and bed sheets.

(from Apartment Therapy)

But for now, a cupboard is what I have. It’s okay, it works. But one day…